


Eternius

by Shadow__Floof



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon
Genre: Death, Fighting, Fusions, Gen, Hybrids, Kingdoms, Magic, Original Characters - Freeform, Original Story - Freeform, PMD, mythical creatures, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 02:14:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30098745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadow__Floof/pseuds/Shadow__Floof
Summary: In a world of pokemon, mythical creatures, mystery dungeons, magic and many more the kingdom of dragons was formed. Only home to pokemon and creatures that are any type of dragon, all types of dragon being banished from the magic kingdom that rules most of the world after an incident caused by the dragons, the magic kingdom having discovered magic and shared it across the world for all to use and eventually becoming the main power.The two kingdoms seemed to live in peace for hundreds of years until one day the dragon king, Splinter who's family have been out for revenge and had finally taken the throne, declared war on the magic kingdom. The war has been raging for many years, destroying villages and habitats along the way and leaving many homeless.But after 14 years of the war 5 pokemon all of different origins and species join together to stop it. None know if there's anyone else who wants the war ended, in hiding or just silent but they are determined to stop the war and fix the peace between the two kingdoms.





	1. Character designs

**Author's Note:**

> Quick notes!
> 
> There will be no shipping in this story, it makes me uncomfortable to write therefore there will be none.
> 
> There will be blood/gore/death so if you are uncomfortable with reading this I recommend finding something else
> 
> Swearing will be included

** The characters **   
**_ All art is by me, Ruru and Blake belong to me but Zion, Zero and Dakota belong to a friend (This was made with permission from them) _ **   
**Ruru - Chapter 1**

**Zion - Chapter 2**

**Z** **ero - Chapter** **3**

** Dakota - Chapter 4 **

**Blake - Chapter 4**

_** Now, onto the story! ** _


	2. Prologue - Journal entry #1

_Nov 17 2020_  
I was told to write in this, I was hesitant at first as the therapist I'd been assigned for arceus knows why but after the multiple I've had before after refusing to open up at all to any of them this one feels... different, as if I could actually trust them but I'm not completely ready to open up about anything yet which is why I'm writing in this.

Everyone before wanted me to write about what I went for and how we all got to where we are now, 5 pokemon all strangers somehow changed the world. None of us understand exactly how but according to everyone, we did. We were the reason everything changed. We were the cause of everything that happened. I tried asking the others if they understood and none of us seem to at all, in such a small time frame we changed everything for the better, some don't agree but the majority of pokemon and creatures that live in this world all say we changed everything. The previous therapists wanted me to write everything down for 'history purposes' as they called it, so it can be documented for the history books of what happened and how everything came to be, which I didn't like so every time they asked me I'd either refuse or write it on my own then burn it. I don't know exactly why I didn't want to do it when they asked me to, refusing to comply with what they wanted just felt right to me though I could tell they were getting frustrated so they dumped me on different therapists, all asking the same thing of me and me always not doing it. This one. They feel different. They didn't ask me to open up immediately about anything, force me to take anything or do anything I didn't want to. Their aura also feels different, nicer and more welcoming to me while the others were more determined and uncaring as if they only wanted to know my story.

Everyone has their own therapist, all 5 of us. Two I can tell why they'd need it but the rest.. no idea, they just said we all did. Only one of us actually goes when we should, the rest of us either don't go or go in whenever we feel like it which is rare. It got to the point where we were forced to go to our first session, having to be dragged there basically which was annoying but it didn't hurt and we all knew better than to try fight back against them. During my first session I refused to speak about most things they asked but they didn't get annoyed at me, they found what I wanted to talk about then would keep on that topic, even when they tried to get me to take things they never forced me and seemed happy when I decided out of everything to take a plush and this journal. The plush is a soft shiny articuno, the pokemon that rules anything to do with the cold, it's nice to keep near, it's even with me right here as I write. The journal is a nice shade of blue, nothing too complicated just a blue cover with a place for me to write my name and was linked with rings so I can easily rip pages out.

The therapist seemed to have tried to find out things about me, what I like, what others know about me and other things from what they talked about to me but they seemed to want to get to know me more instead of just get things out of me that I didn't want to talk about or force me to do things I didn't want to. They're the reason I'm actually writing in this in the first place, they told me I could just write whatever I wanted and no one would know what I wrote except me unless I wanted to show anyone which made me feel.. better.

This is an odd world, pokemon and mythical creatures living together, even fusions of both existing when pokemon are based off them. It's strange but it's our world so what can we do. There's also different types of magic because us pokemon stopped being able to use more than 2 moves though the range went from 0 - 2 and was rare for anyone to have more than 2 moves, so as a replacement for moved we could no longer use magic was discovered, anyone could learn it though anyone who's allowed to at least as any dragons, dragon types or just dragons weren't allowed to learn it at all. They were even banished from the magic kingdom hundreds of years ago, starting their own called the kingdom of dragons which everyone seemed okay with until 14 years ago, the dragon king Splinter decided he wanted to start a war between the two kingdoms, raging on for years until we somehow stopped it.

I finally feel comfortable enough to write about this, as only I'll see it and only people I show this will see it too. So, after talking to the others, this is the story of Eternius.


	3. Chapter 1

Flames encircled the small riolu, the flames towering over him by at least five metres. A dark blue, almost black sky loomed above him while the grass under his feet was already burned and reduced to black ash, crunching and staining his fur whenever he stepped on it. Frantically looking around, desperate for something to explain what was happening, he saw a figure highlighted by the flames in another circle where the flames had died down a bit. He stared at it. He thought he recognised the figure as he'd known them most his life "Shell!?" He whimpered, tail fur spiking and went to take a shaky step towards him before two large figures showed up next to shell. They had long tails and were a lot bigger than him or the shadowed pokemon but he couldn't tell what they were but they both turned to him with pure white eyes conveying nothing. "Shell! W - watch out!" He shouted as he tried to run towards them but was stopped by the flames forcing them to stay in two separate clearings. He stared as suddenly the flames engulfed all the two larger figures and shell, his eyes widening and tried to shout but only chocked as the smoke and ash suddenly grew thicker until all he could see was black.

Opening his eyes suddenly, the riolu was breathing heavily under the blankets on his bed with his head only just about on the soft, light cream pillow. He blinked in confusion as he slowly sat up and noticed his fur had spiked, his tail the most out of all of him _'Was that a dream...?'_ He thought to himself as he heard someone calling from downstairs "Ruru! You're supposed to be leaving soon remember? I want you to be up so you can eat before going!" A female voice called up the stairs of the three story house he lived in with his two younger siblings and his mum, though all three were adopted by her she'd practically raised them all by herself from at least the age of two. Ruru had been able to help with his two younger siblings as he was the oldest by a few years. The riolu enjoyed living with them all as he was eighteen now but still enjoyed helping his mum around the large house and help the other two however he could through training to just listening to whatever they wanted to talk about, though they'd start getting into his training time which had started to annoy him but he didn't try think too much of it.

It eventually sunk it what was happening that day and why Rosette had called him to be up so early "My first quest!" He yelped, scrambling out of bed and nearly falling as he went to grab his clothes and rush downstairs to eat before his food got cold, knowing his mum would only call him to eat if she'd already made it or he'd completely forget there was any food being made and would get his own before she even finished. As his room was on the top floor he had to scramble down the two flights of stairs to get to the bottom floor where Rosette was with the food. He stumbled a few times and nearly fell but got to the bottom unharmed and went to sit at the table where his food was, he saw his brother and sister were already there eating and smiled a little at them as they all looked at him, nervously and excitedly too. His brother Percy was the youngest of the siblings, a turquoise froakie with a large amount of bubbles around his neck that went down half his chest as well as were on his wrists and ankles that were a darker turquoise than the rest of his body. Ruru's adopted sister was quite a bit different, Aurora was a riolu like ruru but was a lot smaller than him with pastel blue, green, purple and white fur as well as dark purple paws, ear tips and stripes on her legs. The tips of her fingers were white with the middle one being pastel purple and wore a black fingerless glove on her right hand while her tail was long and tipped with pastel green and white though her left eye was a pastel pink and the other being a different shade of pastel blue.

"You're supposed to be leaving today, right Ruru?" Aurora asked, tilting her head slightly as she ate, Ruru nodding as he stuffed at least half the plate of waffles and berries his mum had made him into his mouth which made Rosette sigh and look at him. "Ruru I told you not to eat like that, you're going to choke" She told him as her ears twitched and the zoroark turned her purple eyes towards him and waited for a response but didn't get one, causing her to flick one of her ears but didn't say anything else as she ate with the rest of them.

Percy was sitting surprisingly quiet opposite Ruru, though he wasn't sitting completely still which made him look up at the small froakie and tilt his head. "You want to say something Percy?" He asked slightly worried as the froakie hesitated for a second then looked up at Ruru. "What if something happens while you're gone? What if you don't come back..?" He whined slightly, now looking at the older riolu with fear in his eyes. "I'll come back! There's only been one creature that hasn't come back from it! And there's all the other knights that live here, Shell is still here too so he'll be able to protect you" He said gently to his youngest sibling, smiling a little as Percy seemed to think about it for a second then smiled and looked up at him now having a complete mood change. "Yeah! We'll be okay and we'll see you when you get back!" The froakie bounced happily in his seat, making them all smile as they waited for him and Aurora to finish.

After about thirty minutes of preparation, Ruru was standing outside the house with his bag on his back, his cape on his back and his gauntlets with the village guild symbol on around both wrists though left his hands uncovered as he hated having to wear gloves over them. Standing outside the house after saying goodbye to his family he saw shell waiting for him, making the riolu smile as he saw they were wearing a very similar uniform with the guild symbol on the oshawott's gantlets too but they covered his hands "Ruru! You nearly ready to go? I know I'm not going but the least I could do is stay with you till you leave the village" He said happily, smiling at the riolu as he thought for a second and his tail twitched behind him.

"I want to see Nuzleaf before leaving" The grey-blue riolu stated as the oshawott's ear and tail twitched a bit annoyed, why Ruru didn't know, but he nodded and didn't say anything else as they started walking towards the day-care Nuzleaf, no one was sure why he went by his pokemon species instead of his actual name but no one questioned it and decided to just call him it to the point where no one knew his real name anymore. He'd taken care of Ruru and Shell and all the village kids for years as he ran the local day-care though he seemed to be closer to Ruru than any of the other children from the village as he'd raised him for two years after his parents never came to pick him up and disappeared from the village though Ruru hated to talk about it, never even finding out what his parents were other than they were both full pokemon.

At the day-care when they eventually reached it, Nuzleaf was inside trying to tidy up the place as all the kids had left already. Not noticing them at first, the pair walked inside and closed the door behind them "Hi Nuzleaf!" Ruru said excitedly as he rushed over to him, tail wagging behind him and tackle hugged the nuzleaf as he turned around. "Hey kiddo" Nuzleaf smiled down at the riolu who was slightly shorter than him "You're supposed to go on your first quest today right?" He said as the riolu moved away and nodded excited, the nuzleaf smiling and ruffing up his head fur which caused Ruru to grumble annoyed as he tried to fix it with only his hands.

"So you got your weapon prepared?" Nuzleaf asked as he sat down at one of the tables with the oshawott and riolu."Yep!" Ruru said happily as a bone rush appeared in his hands, pure white except the outline of it was glowing a light blue "I'm glad it was the one move I could know" He stated as it disappeared again, remembering the fact that most pokemon can only learn one or two moves each but some couldn't learn any. Shell was a rare case and knew two, which were razor shell and water gun but Nuzleaf couldn't know any which was why he was the village day career, he wasn't able to help in many other ways so he did the best he could, which everyone was happy with. Ruru could only know one move at a time which was bone rush. He used the move as a replacement for an actual weapon, being easy to carry and is able to always have it around instead of it possibly being used against him as he could make it appear and disappear whenever he wanted although it wasn't too helpful when it can to becoming weaker as it was harder to keep it sustainable for too long.

Ruru and Shell didn't spend too long at the day-care with Nuzleaf as Ruru had to leave by midday and it was incredibly close to it, he'd wanted to spend more time with his career of two years but knew he couldn't and promised to see him again once he was back and would tell him all about it. Walking in silence, Ruru felt his tail flick nervously behind him across the ground and looked over at Shell who was supposed to do it in a month but he didn't look upset, nervous or even jealous as you couldn't officially be part of the village guild till you did this quest for supplies for the village which made you go to Aldul which was the closest town and supplied serene village with everything it needed but would restock every month and as it was the least dangerous quest any pokemon or creature joining the guild did it as their first quest so would be easily done on their own unless they weren't seen as fit to but it was very rare.

"Aren't you scared?" Ruru heard the oshawott ask him as they approached the edge of the village, a large fence blocking anything from getting in and a gate that could be opened from either side. "A little as I've never left the village before but if I want to be part of the guild I need to do it" Ruru replied, his long fur fluffed up excitedly as the other just looked at him nervously as if he had a bad feeling but the taller riolu shrugged it off as worry that he wouldn't come back. Sighing quietly, he smiled at the oshawott and lowered himself so he was at eye level with him "Don't worry so much, it'll be okay and you're turn next month! Then I'll be the one seeing you off" Ruru said with his ears and tail up, looking directly into the oshawott's eyes which were clouded with worry but seemed to clear up as the riolu spoke. "Y - yeah, I'll see you again when you're back" He said, seeming to try convince himself but Ruru didn't notice and smiled then stood up. "I should be going now, it's nearly midday" Looking up at the sky, he noticed the sun was very close to it's highest point and heard the sandy coloured oshawott sigh worriedly next to him then quickly pulled him into a hug which Ruru gladly returned "Be careful, we all know what it's supposed to be like out there..." Shell muttered quietly to the riolu "I will, I'll be back before you know it" Ruru reassured him as they let go and smiled at each other before Ruru approached the gate, stopped for a moment then opened it and left.

It'd been about an hour since Ruru left and he'd stopped to try see how auras from the village were and noticed he could only just sense the ones around the outside of the village so took a few more steps till they completely disappeared. Summoning a bone rush he walked over to a tree and draw a circle then a wavy circle into the bark then added a cross through it as a way for him to remember when he was able to sense the auras of the village again.

It'd only been a few minutes since he'd marked the tree when he saw a shadow ball come flying at his legs, forcing him to jump out the way but it caught the top of his left leg which made him screech in pain and collapse. He scrambled up as quick as he could and whimpered slightly as he tried to get up but felt the top of his leg weaken as he tried to stand on it "Long time no seen runt" The riolu heard from nearby, his eyes widening as he recognised the voice and name so quickly turned and dodged another shadow ball as it came towards him "Z - Zorocham! I - I thought yo-"  
"You thought I'd gone for good? Forgotten you? Forgotten what you did to my friend?" The fusion snarled at Ruru who was trying to keep himself standing by leaning on a tree as his eyes widened and blood poured down his leg, staining the dirt below crimson. Quickly, Ruru turned and ran the best he could, limping heavily as his left leg kept bleeding but he couldn't stop with the fusion he'd angered years ago close on his tail. He kept going until he eventually collapsed. Panting, exhausted and in pain he lied on the ground and had somehow gained a bit of distance so quickly dragged himself into a nearby bush to hide in, desperately hoping Zorocham couldn't find him but he knew that wouldn't work. Listening, he heard foot steps getting closer then stop. He knew Zorocham had found him.


	4. Chapter 2

As Ruru closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable attack from Zorocham, quietly whimpering with his clawed hands over his mouth to muffle it just in case he actually hadn't been found but he knew that wasn't very likely as he hadn't got that far ahead, had left a small trail of blood on the ground the fusion would of been looking out for and it was the only bush that he could be hiding in where he'd decided to try hide as the others hadn't had any gaps he could fit through without tearing any of his fur or clothes and leaving evidence of where he'd gone.

Silently, stiffly, he waited for the shadow ball to shoot through the bush and hit him or for the fusion's sharp claws to tear through the leaves and branches of the bush and grab him. But he never felt it. He waited. And waited. But it didn't come. He opened his eyes as the ground started to shake below him and he felt parts of it crack under him as something shifted beneath the soil and broke through the ground not far away from where he was hiding. Lifting his ears slightly, even though they couldn't go very high because of the branches he could hear the sounds of fighting close by, seeming to be on the other side of the area he'd hidden in so quickly decided to use aura to try figure out who it was fighting as he'd been so panicked that he'd completely blocked out all noises and auras around him, which was surprising to him when he eventually realised he'd done it but he ignored it as he tried to focus on the two auras that kept moving as they seemed to fight. He could recognise that one of the two fighting was Zorocham but he didn't recognise the others aura as it did what he thought was odd movements for a fight which was normally followed by Zorocham jumping out the way and stumbling as if he'd been hurt.

In the bush, Ruru tried shuffling forward but flinched when his hurt leg was scratched by a branch and through the dirt, biting down onto his hand and drawing blood to stop himself making any noise. He carefully maneuverer his way to the front of the bush so he could see what was going on. He saw two figures' heads from where he was, one being Zorocham while the other looked like a treecko that was midway through evolving as it had the leaf and partly the face shape of a grovyle and partly of a treecko too. They also had what looked like they wore a sort of twig woven crown around their head that had a few leaves sticking out of it. Watching them fight, Ruru kept himself in the bush so he wouldn't get caught in it and saw why Zorocham had been seeming to dodge things. Because he'd been dodging large, sharp dark green vines that shot up from the ground when the treecko seemed to make them which surprised Ruru as that wasn't something nature magic could do, nature magic could create plants from the user's body and get them to do what they wanted but they'd always be a light green unlike the ones the treecko used .

After what felt like forever he saw Zorocham growl and run off deep into the forest, his aura fading as he held his left arm and limped away as quick as he could while the other just stood there seeming to be watching the fusion run from him. Ruru was so focused on Zorocham's aura that he didn't notice the treecko coming towards him until he blinked and the treecko's face was right in front of his, causing him to yelp and jump back surprised and gritted his teeth as he felt the wound on his leg hurt worse than it had just been. The treecko had yellow and dark green eyes that matched the vines he'd summoned from the ground, his face had a darker green around his snout that went between his eyes too but was outlined by a much lighter green that matched the three small spots he had under each of his eyes while under his mouth was a peach red colour. "You can come out from there, they're gone" he said as he smiled at the riolu and moved away, giving Ruru space to get out but seemed to notice Ruru was struggling because of the branches and his leg so carefully lifted the bush up and used more vines to help him stand up. "T - thanks" The hurt Riolu said and summoned a bone rush to lean on instead of having to be supported by the treecko's vines.

"Who are you?" Ruru asked him as he seemed to check how the plants were around where they'd been fighting "I'm a nature spirit, the one mostly responsible for this area" He said, nodding to himself as he finished checking the plants "What are you doing here? And why were they after you exactly?" The nature spirit countered as he turned to face Ruru who shrunk slightly under his long fur "I'm on a quest for my village for supplies" He said only half answering the question as the treecko seemed to think "Serene village" the treecko stated as Ruru nodded "My names Zion, I normally meet any of the creatures and pokemon from Serene village when they do their supply quest and try help them get there and back safely" Zion started as he put his hand towards Ruru, the riolu hesitating for a second before shaking it "Ruru" he said as he let go and put both hands back on the bone rush he was using to keep him standing. The nature spirit seemed to notice how the riolu was struggling so walked over and carefully helped him stand up better by supporting him on his weak side "Thanks again.." The riolu muttered embarrassed as the treecko blinked at him "You don't need to be embarrassed, just because you need help doesn't change anything" Zion said smiling at Ruru who nodded a little but didn't look at him or respond.

The pair had started walking into the forest in silence as Zion helped Ruru, neither knowing what to say as they went on their way. Ruru could swear he could feel an aura nearby but his leg was in too much pain for him to be able to tell when he was just sensing things that weren't there or was actually able to, he assumed he was just a bit delirious from the pain because it kept appearing and disappearing from when he could and when he couldn't sense it. "So... how could you do that thing with the vines?" Ruru asked as Zion looked at him and thought "Well all nature spirits can manipulate plants. We can create them out of the ground, make plants grow, shrink them and even see and hear through them, which is how I knew you were there and kept the fusion away from that area" Zion said, a little smugly at the end but it quickly faded as he looked at Ruru, his green, two ended tail dragged gently across the ground "Can you do anything other than the bone rush?" He asked, sounding slightly curious as Ruru thought then nodded "Yeah actually, though I can't do it for long or it'll hurt more than my leg is" he stated simply as the nature spirit seemed slightly annoyed, making Ruru look away slightly guiltily "S - sorry.. I can heal others with aura but the longer I do it the more it causes my hands to bleed" he said as Zion nodded a little but seemed to pick up on the fact Ruru didn't want to really talk about it much.

Ruru and Zion didn't say anything much after that, pointing out all the creatures and pokemon they saw and were even being able to see pokemon and creature fusions and would try figure out what pokemon and mythical creature it was a fusion of which they had quite a bit of fun with but eventually stopped to rest as it was getting close to becoming night, making it dangerous to travel as neither of them had any sort of night vision like some of the creatures and other pokemon had. Looking at Zion, the riolu looked for any sign that he noticed something might be following them but he didn't show anything that Ruru could go on so decided it was just the pain in his leg making him sense auras weirdly. "Let me set the tent and the sleeping bags up, you can hardly walk on your own much less try set up and entire tent." Zion stated as he forced Ruru to sit on a large vine he'd made from the ground and had made it so the riolu could sit on it as easily as possible "fine..." grumbling, the riolu stayed on the vine as he let the nature spirit set up the tent and get the sleeping bags out of the large bag Ruru had to carry with him that was mostly empty for the supplies he needed to pick up.

It hadn't been long when Zion finished putting up the tent with the sleeping bags in, he'd asked why Ruru had more than one and had got the response of "You don't know when others might need one or if the one you brought could get damaged or lost" which Zion seemed to accept then helped Ruru into the tent, getting rid of the vine the injured riolu had been sitting on and helped him get into the tent. Ruru looked at Zion for a second before tilting his head "How aren't you hurt at all? You were fighting with Zorocham for a while" he stated, getting a look from Zion who seemed to quickly piece something together "that's the name of who I fought... and because I'd use my vines to stop him getting too close to me at times but I did get hurt, I just was able to create plants near me that I needed to help them heal" the nature spirit stated as he carefully wiped his hand on his other arm, revealing quite large claw scratches that he'd somehow perfectly covered with the plants "That hurts doesn't it?" Ruru asked as he looked at the spirit worried from his sleeping bag, carefully going to lie down after wrapping the roll of bandages he'd finally decided to use around the top of his leg "Of course it hurts, but you were hurt worse so I didn't want to make you worry when you already had things to worry about" The treecko stated as he climbed into his own sleeping bag that was less than a foot away from Ruru because of the small size of the tent, Ruru desperately wanting to say something but decided not to in case it started any sort of argument.

"Have you sensed anything following us?" Ruru asked as they lied in the sleeping bags next to each other, both of them turning to look at the other as the light faded from outside the tent, showering them in complete darkness "I've heard something following us through the plants but I was never able to actually see what it was as it moved too fast for me to see through the plants and it disappeared a lot so it was probably just wild creatures and pokemon that live around here" Zion said simply as Ruru nodded a little, thinking about what he'd said "Yeah... probably" He said as he looked back at the treecko after looking at the roof of the tent and blinked surprised, noticing he'd just suddenly fallen asleep without saying anything or seeming to be tired before. Ruru sighed quietly but smiled as he rolled onto his back and looked up at the roof of the tent again, he was glad he wouldn't be going to Matlock on his own as it would of been a long, boring journey. After a little longer of thinking, he closed his eyes and went to sleep, unaware that whatever had been following them was watching the tent the two were currently asleep in.


	5. Chapter 3

Ruru sat up in his sleeping bag waking up suddenly in the middle of the night, flinching slightly as he felt pain go through his leg but immediately knew what had woken him up so suddenly as the feelers at the side of his head rose slightly causing them to sense aura more than they usually would. Focusing on the area nearby, knowing that auras being closer than they were before he went to sleep were the only way to wake him up suddenly without it being a nightmare, he tried to find an aura that could of disturbed his sleep and for a few seconds noticed an aura nearby but then it disappeared again, seeming to be further away as he now recognised it but weaker than it had been before. In a slight panic he nudged the sleeping nature spirit next to him to try wake him up "Zion" he whispered as quietly as he could but loud enough for him to hear. The treecko let out a grumble as the riolu's ears went back and his feelers fell back to the side of his head "Zion, wake up, someone's nearby" Ruru repeated as he noticed him shift and sit up, rubbing his eyes as he woke up. "Wha... it's the middle of the night Ruru no ones going to be out here" Zion muttered as he looked at the Riolu who was doing his best to put on a nervous face the treecko might succumb to "... Fine, I'll check with the plants around here.." he sighed as he closed his eyes and focused, Ruru sitting silently but pleased next to him as he waited.

After a few minutes Zion opened his eyes, confusion clouding them as he looked deep in thought "You're not wrong... someone's nearby" he said worried as they both got up and left the tent, Ruru having to limp as the nature spirit stood partly in front of him in a defensive stance though Ruru moved slightly away as he didn't want to be or feel like he was being protected. The two silently looked around the forest surrounding them, carefully, cautiously trying to see if anything was there hidden but neither could sense anything or anyone nearby until an aura suddenly appeared followed by the bushes rustling from the movement. Summoning a bone rush Ruru watched where the aura was while Zion watched it too, seeming to be focused on the plants mostly until a water shuriken came flying towards them from the bush as the aura disappeared only to reappear behind other bushes. The Riolu let out a slight yelp as he swung the bone rush at it and slicing it in half then flew straight into two vines Zion had created from the ground to protect the tent behind them that was still up. "What was that!?" Zion said as he got the vines to go back into the ground but another water shuriken was thrown towards them, Ruru shoving the nature spirit down as the shuriken flew over their heads towards the trees behind. More water shuriken started getting thrown at them from different directions, Zion quickly making a vine wall around the tent as they tried to dodge them all but occasionally got scratched by them.

It'd been a few minutes of dodging the water shuriken but they were both starting to get worn out and Ruru's leg had given way a few times so was having to use the vines around the tent to support him, the pair both breathing heavily and were exhausted. However, the more tired they got the slower the shuriken came until they didn't even reach them before disappearing completely "Try... trap them in vines!" Ruru said between breathes as Zion nodded, making the ground shake as the vines come through in front if them and shot towards whoever was attacking them then wrapping themselves around their wrists and ankles, finally dragging them out the bushes until they were in front of the pair. Ruru blinked at the pokemon that had been dragged out the bushes, a tall greninja wearing a large purple cloak with a more grey-purple robe underneath which was the typical clothing of a mage with light blue eyes and small scars across his face was hanging by the vines seeming to be just as exhausted as the other two were, possibly even more tired.

The two were standing there, just staring at the tired greninja in front of them confused as only feral pokemon were normally around this area so seeing any pokemon that wasn't was surprising "who are you?" Ruru asked him, the nature spirit seeming to be thinking as a flash of recognition covered his eyes but was gone so quick Ruru wasn't sure if he'd just imagined it but didn't think about it as he turned back to face the greninja in front of them who was just looking at them but had a slight hint of worry in his face while the rest seemed to show confidence "My name is Zero" he stated as Ruru twitched his tail slightly as he felt like he'd only be getting minimal answers from him "Why did you attack us?" Ruru asked bluntly, deciding it'd be a waste of time to try get more than one sentence answers "Because you were strangers and I didn't know who you were since you" he said, looking directly at Ruru "hadn't entered the forest before you left your village" Ruru's eyes widened in shock as he realised how long the greninja had been following them for the entire day, also only just noticing the sun starting to come up above the trees as he let out a slight yawn but slammed his jaws shut which seemed to cause the other two to start yawning as well "It's becoming morning, why don't you let me sleep and we all go sleep?" Zero suggested "Nice try, you can sleep here while me and Ruru sleep in the tent" Zion stated as Zero huffed but had already started drifting to sleep as the other two looked at each other snd shrugged, the vine walls around it going down as they went back inside the tent to sleep.

Slowly waking up, Ruru sat up in his sleeping bag and got up, grabbing his bag and leaving Zion asleep inside the tent as he left it and looked at Zero who seemed to only just be waking up. After thinking for a moment, Ruru looked at his bag then at the greninja who was now sitting on the ground with only vines around his wrists "You hungry?" The riolu asked as he sat down next to him and pulled out a few berries he'd packed and offered half of them to Zero who looked at him surprised "Really?" The riolu nodded in response as he took a bite of one of his own berries and let Zero take one of the berries he'd offered him "Thanks" he said as he immediately started eating the berry and taking the rest Ruru had offered as he smiled and carried on eating his own, seeming to realise Zero must of been starving to be able to eat all the berries in such a small amount of time. They sat there eating in silence until they'd both finished. Ruru's long ears twitched as he thought for a while "So you're a mage from the clothing I'd guess?" He asked as Zero looked at him then nodded "Then what magic can you do? I wanted to be a mage but was deemed... incapable" The riolu stated as his tail twitched behind him "Well I can only really do teleportation and telekinesis magic as I wasn't able to learn much before I was forced to stop taking the lessons" Zero sighed as Ruru looked at him sadly, deciding he probably didn't want to talk about it.

The two kept talking for a while until Zion eventually left the tent, yawning a little and walked over to them and sat down as Ruru passed him food from the bag "You two were up early" he muttered as Ruru tilted his head and looked up at the sky, noticing the sun was just going passed midday "No you're up late" Ruru counted, Zero snickering slightly but didn't say anything as the vines around his wrists went back into the ground "Well you weren't the one creating vines to protect the tent and stop him from leaving, which he easily could now" The treecko grumbled as Ruru looked at Zero, ears going down a little "Yeah... you probably have somewhere to be anyway.." he sighed, ears lowering more and looking at the ground a bit in front of him "I don't have any where to be or go actually" The mage said as he thought for a second "Could I join you two to get to the town you're trying to get to for supplies?" Ruru and Zion blinked surprised, both about to ask how he knew then Ruru remembered he'd been following them for ages so of course he'd know "I don't know... stormwell is still a day or so travel away... but I guess it wouldn't hurt" Ruru said, changing what he was saying once he noticed Zero's face drop slightly. Ruru heard Zion let out a slight grumble at not being asked but didn't say anything about being against it.

They decided to gather more food separately if they were going to travel with three of them now instead of only two though Ruru had a few extra tents in his bag as well as sleeping bags still so would be able to give Zero a place to sleep comfortably instead of cramping them all into one tent with only two of them having a sleeping bag. Ruru was gathering berries from wherever he could reach as he just thought to himself _'could I trust them?'_ He thought to himself as he kept putting them in the small vine and stick baskets Zion had made them to put the berries in. He shook his head quickly to clear it. Of course he could. He was injured already and was weaker than both if them so they would of killed him if they could of by now. He stopped for a second and thought as a shadow ball flew past where he would of been if he hadn't stopped, causing him to quickly turn to see who threw it and saw blue eyes "Not again..." he muttered as he quickly threw the basket onto a branch above him and went to run but his injured leg gave way and made him collapse face first into the dusty ground. As he was about to get up he felt Zorocham hold him down, one foot on his back, another positioned in the middle of his tail and one claw pushing the riolu's head down into the dust "Friends aren't here now are they?" He growled into Ruru's ear as he slowly started digging his claws into his skin, making Ruru grit his teeth as he felt the skin break and start bleeding. Suddenly ruru felt the weight lift off him, quickly using the opportunity to scramble up and get away, quickly grabbing the basket of berries and glancing back at vines trapping Zorocham but didn't let himself focus on it as he turned back around and just ran back to the area they were staying for now.

Once Ruru got back Zero looked at him and his eyes widened a little as he seemed to notice the new cuts and blood in the riolu's long fur "Ruru! What happened?" He asked as he quickly went over to Ruru and got him inside the tent, using a small water shuriken to clean up all the blood and wounds, it hurt but didn't complain as he was exhausted from running all the way back. Zero didn't ask what happened again as Ruru heard Zion get back and walk into the tent "He okay?" Zion asked as Zero nodded in response "I'll tell you what happened in a minute Zero, can you leave me and Ruru to talk for a moment?" He asked and the greninja seemed hesitant but got up and left the tent. "I took care of Zorocham again but you need to be more careful" he told Ruru as he nodded, looking at the ground "I know... I'm sorry..." he muttered as Zion sighed and got Ruru to lie down as he seemed to be able to tell Ruru's leg had been hurting more "You used your leg more than you probably should in the condition it's in so try rest for a while" Zion told him sternly, his two ended tail flicking slightly as he left the tent, leaving Ruru alone with his thoughts though it wasn't long before he fell asleep from exhaustion.

Ruru woke up as Zion came into the tent after the sun had set and reassured him Zero was okay as he set up another tent and sleeping bag for him to stay in which made Ruru feel better as he now lied awake. He could hear distant noises he thought were in his head until Zero came in as the moon rose higher in the sky, seeming worried "Guys! There's fighting going on and it seems like a big one! There's fire too and it's spreading quickly!" Zero said as Zion and Ruru looked at each other and scrambled up, all heading towards the sounds of fighting.


	6. Chapter 4

As the three ran through the night they could see the fire spreading through the forest, Zero quickly using a water shuriken and telekinesis to put out as much of the fire as he could but continued running towards the sound of fighting they could hear clearer than before. Adding to the sounds of things being thrown and other noises that indicated a fight, they could now hear the sounds of dragons roaring as well as large wings flapping "There are dragons here!? Aren't they supposed to not leave their kingdom!?" Ruru said, looking at Zion as he quickly dodged around a tree and kept running towards the sounds "Yeah, normally only the dragons that are out here are guards looking for any escaped prisoners or any escaped dragon prisoners" Zion stated as Zero was able to contain most of the fire into a small area that would quickly go out once the fighting stopped. Even though Zero seemed like he was going to turn and run the other way instead of towards all the sounds of fighting, he put on a confident face and kept going, a few steps behind the other two even though he was taller and could also teleport with the magic he'd told them he'd learnt.

They neared the sound of fighting quickly, a bunch of twigs snapping underneath their feet though they were mostly charred, they still made quite a bit of noise from how many there were. The fighting continued, shrieks of pain and thuds as if something large was hitting the ground quite far away were being added into the mix of noises already filling the forest. It was clear where the fire got up to before Zero had been able to put it out as the trees were slowly starting to smoke slightly with parts becoming covered more in soot and ash closer to the centre of where the fire started. As they got closer the fighting seemed to stop and the sound of wings flapping started to became clear, a bunch seeming to go one way and a few going other directions but it was impossible to pin point where any of the dragons actually went as they couldn't see through the trees clear enough to see. The smell hit the riolu as they neared the clearing the fight had happened in, a metallic smell filling the air which nearly made him gag but stopped himself as the other two seemed to smell it more the closer they got and noticed Zion visibly try not to gag with the overwhelming smell but Zero seemed perfectly fine though Ruru didn't think much of it and kept running.

Eventually they reached the clearing, Zion and Ruru's eyes widening as they noticed the amount of blood staining the grass and trees a shade of denim blue instead of the normal red for most other creatures "They were definitely only dragons fighting here..." Zero muttered as there was no other colours of blood in any part of the clearing and very few creatures actually had blue blood. The blood seemed fresh that whenever they walked in it the puddles would splash the blue onto their feet and clothes in small splatters that were hardly noticeable but for Ruru clotted his fur, causing it to tangle and turn a lighter shade of blue than it already was. "What was their reason for fighting... there wouldn't be any escaped prisoners nearby right? As we're not that close to the kingdom itself so they couldn't of got that far without being caught" Ruru said a bit nervously, Zero seeming to flinch very slightly but the riolu just shrugged it off as his imagination from how he didn't seem to be showing any signs he had. "Let's see if anyones around still... well that's not dead" Zero said, quickly changing the subject as the other two nodded and seemed to finally notice the two bodies in the clearing, one being a dragon and the other being a wyvern as the Magic kingdom had decided to categories anything that could be a dragon into the 'dragon' category of not being allowed into the kingdom.

Searching endlessly, the sun starting to rise over the horizon though was only visible from the sky starting to change colours above the trees they sighed and were about to leave when they heard the sound of running coming towards them which caused them all to spin around and prepare to fight, Ruru with a bone rush, Zion with vines coming from the ground and Zero with a water shuriken ready. Although Ruru's stance was off from the pain that shot through his leg as he spun to see what was making the noise, he still prepared himself to fight and tried to hide his unbalance. The sounds of running came closer until eventually a figure that was taller than Ruru and Zion but just shorter than Zero came towards them in a dark cloak that only just showed a sky blue tunic, reaching the top of his legs. The figure eventually came into the light, revealing a riolu and treecko fusion with one purple eye and one blue eye and mostly turquoise green fur, under his mouth and both his wings being a lighter green colour but skidded to a stop as he saw the others in the clearing "Who are you three!?" He said quickly, looking at them nervously for a second then shook his head and looked around the clearing "Never mind that, have you seen anyone other than these dead dragons?" The fusion asked a bit frantically as the three shook their heads, looking at him confused "Can you help me find my friend? He disappeared in the middle of the night and hasn't come back yet" He asked as his wings twitched nervously behind him and his fur covered two ended tail was still on the ground "Uh.. Sure, what do they look like?" Zion asked "He's a blue fusion with wings, a long fur ended tail and a brown tunic and a lighter brown short cloak, normally with his hood up." They said as they went to go in a different direction "My names Dakota, my friends called Blake" Dakota stated quickly then rushed off, leaving the three slightly shocked but shrugged and started heading in different directions and agreeing to try make a signal to show that they'd found them.

Ruru had been searching on his own for a while now, sighing to himself as he climbed up one of the trees to see where the sun was. Slowly reaching midday, he decided as he yawned slightly and slid back down the tree to the ground and started looking again but was starting to limp as his leg hurt again. It'd only been a couple of minutes when a vine shot out of the ground causing the riolu to yelp and jump back slightly before he quickly realised it must be Zion's sign he'd found Blake before noticing the vine was pointing in a specific direction so started heading in the direction it was pointing, it slowly going back into the ground behind him as Ruru's long tail twitched slightly above the ground as he realised they'd not put any of their things away before leaving the clearing so hoped that it would still be there untouched.

Eventually making it to Zion after it felt like he'd been running through the forest for hour he looked at the nature spirit "Where is he then?" he panted, wanting to sit down but was trying not to "Up there" Zion sighed as he pointed into the tree where Ruru could just about see a dark fur on the end of a tail hanging through the leaves, Ruru twitched his ears and he realised using aura might of helped but also remembered he wouldn't recognise the aura so would have no idea what to look for. They both looked back up at the tail they assumed was Blake as Zero arrived too "They're in the tree aren't they?" He huffed as the other two nodded and the tail quickly went into the leaves, now unable to be seen from below but it didn't make anymore noise so they all assumed they were still there "How do we get them to come down?" Ruru asked as they started thinking. Dakota came quickly after "Where is he?" Dakota asked as Zion pointed up where the tail had been a minute ago. The fusion quickly flew up the tree and disappeared in the leaves for a few seconds then came back down, helping a second fusion down who looked to be Blake from how Dakota described them before but he had a large hole in one of his wings that seemed to make it so he wouldn't be able to fly till it's healed as well as other large wounds with the worst one being down his right eye that was still pouring out blood which seemed to make him half blind.

Dakota and Blake made it to the ground eventually, the blue fusion putting one of his light blue hands over his bleeding eye which nearly immediately turned most of it a shade of garnet as the blood now streamed onto his hand "Blake what happened!?" Dakota questioned nearly the second they both reached the ground "I just fell and caught my wing on a branch and my eye was from a rattata getting scared and attacked me as others joined in.." he muttered as the other fusion looked at him, not seeming to believe the story as he sighed and hugged Blake which made him flinch but hug Dakota back with one hand so he didn't turn the other's fur red because of his blood "Just don't disappear again okay?" He said quietly, Blake's only response being to hug him tighter as the others just looked at each other, unsure what to do. Blake eventually let go of Dakota and looked at the others as his ears shot down and looked away, seeming to be nervous "Oh yeah, these are the pokemon that helped me find you" He said, smiling at Blake as he looked back at the greninja, treecko and riolu "I'm Zero" The greninja said first "The treecko is Zion and the riolu is Ruru" He stated as he signalled at the other two who waved "H - hi.." Blake muttered as he kept his right eye closed. Ruru looked at the two fusions and noticed how bad Blake looked and how tired Dakota seemed, thinking for a moment as his tail twitched "We're heading to the town Stormwell and have a bunch of tents and sleeping bags, hopefully, still set up in a clearing. You can come with us if you want so you can both get proper sleep and have the wounds Blake has taken care of, it's the closest place from here too." Ruru suggested as the two thought for a moment "Okay.. it wouldn't hurt I guess" Blake said as Dakota nodded, all turning to head back to where the tents were set up.

It was nearly night by the time they found the clearing and somehow, the tents were fully intact and everything was there which Ruru was surprised by until he found out Zion had hid the area from others which made it impossible for anyone that Zion didn't let through find the clearing at all. Even though Ruru wasn't completely happy the nature spirit had slightly abused his powers to protect their things he was glad everything was still there so they wouldn't have to sleep in the open or buy new things. "I'll go gather some more food as everything we have probably isn't good to eat anymore" Zero said as he teleported away before the others could argue, looking at each other before Zion and Ruru started setting up another tent for the two fusions that would now join them to Stormwell.

After a few hours it was night and they were all eating the berries Zero had gathered, Blake and Zero seeming to eat the most and Dakota watched the two slightly concerned at why they were acting like they hadn't eaten in a week but didn't say anything as he ate the berries he had for himself "Hey Dakota, are you a mage?" Ruru asked curiously as he looked at the turquoise fusion's cloak as he swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded "Yeah, I specialise in fire magic mostly but can do other types too" he said, a bit proudly as he created fire in his hand then made it disappear, made a group of leaves appear from his hand and blow into the air, using air magic to make them fly away into the wind then finally created a ball of water between his hands which made Blake's fur spike slightly and shuffle slightly away from Dakota, now moving one hand over his bleeding eye. Dakota did a few tricks with the water he'd made from the magic but Blake didn't relax at all until he made it disappear, his fur flattening and letting out a breath of relief that Ruru noticed but immediately yawned "I think we should all sleep now" Zion said as they all agreed and started heading to their separate tents as the moon started to reach it's peak, everyone preparing for the journey to Stormwell in the morning.


	7. Chapter 5

The small group had been travelling, non-stop for a day since they met Dakota and Blake and stayed at the clearing they'd set up camp. All five of them were exhausted by the time they finally arrived at Stormwell, the tall wood and stone buildings of various shades of brown and grey towering over them more than the trees of the forest had but had wide streets to walk through. A mass of different pokemon and creatures lived in the small town, a mix of hybrids, fusions and pure breeds wondered the streets peacefully as if there wasn't a war going on only a few miles away in the same forest the town was surrounded by. The sky was light blue, very few clouds in sight and the sun slowly rising into the sky from below the tree line as winged pokemon, harpies, griffins and many more flew through the open sky, the only type of creature and pokemon missing being any type of dragon as this was still supposed to be part of the magic kingdom so dragons weren't allowed in it no matter what type they were. No one could remember what the reason dragons were banished was as it'd been at least three hundred years since the two kingdoms had been formed so most pokemon and creatures hadn't ever seen a dragon of any sort other than in books because of the dragons staying inside the walls of their kingdom.

As the group entered the town, Ruru looked excited to finally be able to start heading back to his home and enjoy his time with shell, his family and the other members of the guild. Zion just looked around slightly curious as Ruru assumed that he'd stuck deep inside his forest so had never fully left the forest even when helping the other guild members before the riolu, Dakota looked at peace as if he'd missed the crowdedness of a town or village while Zero tried to make himself look calm and relaxed but Ruru could sense his nervous aura as well as Blake's increasing nervousness the further they walked in but be didn't seem to be hiding it at all as he stuck close to Dakota's side. The ground was made of individually cut stones which left gaps between each one where dirt and small bits of greenery grew through into the mostly grey and brown streets but the gaps were just wide enough to trip on if you weren't careful enough of where you walked. Everyone around them looked at them oddly as they all worse dark and dirty clothes that weren't as colourful as Zion or Zero's but were a similar colour to Blake's dark brown attire but they looked at him the most as he had the most visible wounds which were still quite red and some still having blood leaking from them, especially his eye as the fur was red with new and old blood, refusing to have any water to clean it.

As Ruru thought about it he looked at everyone else and noticed that they were probably getting the looks because of the blood drops most of them had covering them whether it was their own or not, some of the blood being blue but most of it being crimson. "I should go find the one who has all the supplies for the village" Ruru said as he was about to walk away but felt Zion grab his hand and stop him "Ruru you're limping badly and you're clearly in pain" he stated as the riolu's ears twitched slightly and he huffed as he'd been attempting to avoid how much his leg had been hurting him since they'd started heading to the town the day before, though he'd refuse to admit it "No I'm fine, it doesn't hurt or anything" The swordsman shrugged, smiling at the treecko as the other three looked at each other then back at the two "Your legs badly hurt Ruru, you've been limping all the way here you need to go see someone at least" Zion said, looking at Ruru in the eyes as the riolu's tail swished above the ground annoyed then reluctantly huffed and nodded "Fine..." He muttered as the nature spirit smiled and let go of his hand but stayed close in case he tried to sneak off "We're all going kid, it doesn't hurt for everyone to" Zero said, smiling but was clearly still nervous from the way his voice shook slightly and he kept playing with his purple cloak "I'm eighteen, I'm not a kid" Ruru huffed annoyed in response as Zero and Zion snickered and started walking away, in the direction a sign was pointing to what Ruru assumed was for the medic of the town as he couldn't read much from the small amount of lessons he'd had on reading so quickly followed behind with Blake and Dakota.

It only took a few minutes of walking through the loud cramped streets of Stormwell to reach the medic's house which was smaller than the buildings around it but was still a decent enough size to be able to take care of people over night if it was needed. Blake's eye had started bleeding again after accidentally bumping into a seemingly short tempered tyranitar who immediately shoved him into a wall, holding him there by the jaw and they'd had to quickly apologise and separate the two before Blake got hurt but he was quickly slashed down the right eye which was only just starting to heal as a warning to be more careful, to which they all nodded and quickly walked away while Blake stuck as close to Dakota as he could, his already red hand back onto his bleeding eye to try stop it. They all stood and looked at each other, unsure of what to do as Ruru shrugged and went up to the door. He was about to knock when the door opened to a mega audino and chansey fusion opened it and smiled at the group who were looking at her surprised. She had the egg, pouch and colours of a chansey but had the main body, white and ears of a mega audino "Hello there! I assume you need my help?" She asked and signalled her stumpy arm and hand at the group "Yeah" Zion said quickly before Ruru had a chance to say anything, moving him aside slightly "Well come in! I have the move heal pulse so I can heal you all as much as I can with it at once" The fusion told them as she walked into the building, leaving room for the others to file in after her.

Once they were all in, Ruru realised it really was bigger than it looked from the outside "Just stand in the room over here! It'll make the heal pulse more effective" She said happily as she skipped into another room but left the door open to let them follow behind. The room had a small candle on one of the tables but that was it other than the small window that let a small amount of light into the small room that hardly fit all six of them inside. The mega audino fusion stood in the middle of the room and started letting out a pink pulse started coming from her and through the entire room, the smaller wounds everyone had healing completely while the larger ones like Blake's eye and Ruru's leg only healed a little but not enough to be left unlooked at for too long. It only took a few minutes before she stopped and started examining everyone, starting with Zero "So what's your name?" Ruru asked curiously as she wrapped any wounds Zero still had in bandages then moved into Zion "Cherry, one of the healers of Stormwell" She said, small tail swaying behind her and moved onto Ruru, immediately looking at his leg which was still quite red around the top as his leg. She looked at it and sighed quietly to herself, going into a cupboard that blended into the walls of the room and got more bandages before wrapping it around that part of Ruru's leg "The wounds are deep, they seem to have damaged the muscles in the top of you leg which seem too bad to fully heal" She stated, a lot less cheerful than she just sounded "What does that mean then?" Ruru asked as he tilted his head and looked worried "You'll have a limo, permanently. You won't be able to use your leg like you used to either" They all looked at her shocked but she didn't say anything else, only getting up and heading to look at Dakota.

Ruru got up and left the room, limping heavily as he did with Zero and Zion close on his tail as they watched him worried "Ruru where are you going?" Zion asked as he walked on the riolu's left and Zero walked on his right, leaving the building and into the streets again "To get the supplies for my village and go home" he said, a blank expression washing over his face and his voice level and emotionless as they walked in silence. A few minutes past when Ruru looked up at a store sign swinging in the wind, remembering the place the guild had named that he needed to get supplies from so went inside and saw a Tsareena with unicorn like hair and horn on her head "I'm here for supplies, Serene village" he stated blankly, the hybrid giving him an odd look but went around the back and came back a few minutes later with a large bag full of food, healing items and other things requested by residents of the village. Ruru nodded then turned and left as everything was prepaid by the village to the person they ordered from. Zero and Zion looked at each other worried as Ruru started heading back towards the forest "Ruru you're not just leaving are you?" Zero asked, face creased in concern as he looked at the blank faced riolu "I want to go home" he stated as he went to start walking again but the treecko and greninja quickly hugged him so he couldn't move "Why are you so determined to leave us? We came here together!" Zion said, voice shaking slightly as Ruru's ears slowly dropped and he closed his eyes tightly "How can I be a guild member if I can't even fight because of my leg? I can hardly walk!" He whimpered as he hugged them both and felt warm tears start pouring down his face "You can still be a knight Ruru! You'd just need to learn to be the best you can, even with your leg!" Zion said as he smiled at Ruru, the riolu smiling back a little as all three let go and Ruru wiped his eyes and nodded "Y - yeah! I- I'll just try even harder!" He said cheerfully as Zero ruffed up Ruru's head fur and smiled "Let's get back to Cherry's place, I think sne'd let us stay there" Zero said as they started heading back.

It only took the three a few minutes to reach it and went inside, Ruru sensing their auras upstairs so they looked up there to find Blake, Dakota and Cherry. Cherry and Dakota were talking while Blake was asleep in one of the beds, holding onto what looked like a large plush of a soft shiny wooloo which made Ruru look at the other two confused "He can't seem to sleep without holding onto something like a plush. As I have a few in case anyone needs them I let him have one" Cherry said and smiled happily, Dakota nodding in agreement. Ruru sat down on one of the beds as he thought about seeing Shell again but his thought were interrupted by Cherry "So would you all like to stay here the night? I can check on any wounds that aren't fully healed and you won't have to pay at all" She said as she smiled, Ruru thinking and nodding as he looked at the others "It'd make sense and probably be best" Ruru said as he tilted his head slightly, everyone then nodding in agreement "Okay, we'd like to stay here if that works" he said as she nodded happily and left the room to give them all time to talk if they needed to while she made food "So we starting to head back to Serene village tomorrow? All of us?" Ruru asked a bit nervously "I don't see why not, you helped me and Blake so it wouldn't hurt for us to help you back" Dakota said and smiled "Yeah, you're not going back alone" Zero added and grinned at Ruru and laughed a little "If you're all so sure" he said happily. The group talked for a while before Cherry came back with food for them all, leaving some on the side for when Blake woke up but they all agreed to leave the next day once they were prepared so decided if Blake wanted to come as well he could but if he didn't he would leave.


	8. Chapter 6

It'd been two days since the group had left the town. Ruru kept the supplies for his village safely in his bag, being as careful as he could with it to make sure he didn't break anything inside it. They'd had to fight a few pokemon and creatures but the fights had been over quickly without any injury, Zion helping make sure they stayed away from anything too dangerous and only running into small pokemon that Ruru didn't pick up auras from because of the amount of plants around them. It was nice to travel with others as he expected to have to do the quest on his own for days but instead he'd travelled with four others. He hoped they could still talk and be friends even if they didn't live in the same place as he enjoyed their company. The riolu had also noticed that, even though Blake refused to admit it, he'd brought the shiny wooloo plush with them and kept it in a small bag Cherry had given him but he kept it under his dark brown cloak with the dark strap around his waist and only took it out when he thought he was alone in a tent and when he thought Dakota, as he would share a tent with him, was asleep though most of the time he wasn't.

It was early morning when Ruru first woke up, stretching and yawning in his large sleeping bag but tried to make sure not to wake Zion who was sleeping in his own sleeping bag next to him. After carefully putting his wrist gauntlets back on and putting his cape on he gently grabbed his bag and left the tent. He heard the noise of talking not too far away, lifting his ear slightly and looked around, noticing the other tents had been taken down already, he saw the other three sitting on fallen logs in the small clearing they were in and smiled at them as he walked over. They already were eating from a pile of berries that sat in the middle of them all which surprised Ruru as he thought it was early, double checking by looking up and noticed the sun was hardly above the trees. "How long have you all been up to gather this many berries?" He asked them curiously as Blake took a bite from a grepa berry and Zero finished a rawst berry "Before the sun was up, we could've really sleep" Dakota said with a shrug, dismissing it completely which made Ruru feel like they were lying to him as his tail twitched on the ground but he didn't ask anymore questions as he didn't want to force them to tell him.

He sat down on one of the logs next to Zero as he grabbed a sitrus berry from the pile as it was the only other type of berry than rawst and grepa which he'd tried before and wasn't too fond of so would prefer not to eat them if he could afford to. It hadn't been long since he'd sat down when Zion came out the tent, stumbling a little from tiredness Ruru assumed as his leaf crown was still in his hand and his robe was messier than usual. "Morning Zion" Ruru said happily as he sat down the other side of Ruru and grunted slightly before yawning, everyone looking at him slightly worried as he'd slept earlier than the rest of them and from what they knew he hadn't been up at all either. Something Ruru noticed but the others didn't seem to was the fact that the grass under Zion's feet had started to die and the path he'd walked only had small areas that were dying but what Ruru found odd was that it was only around the areas the nature spirit had walked. The riolu wanted to ask Zion what was happening but he was already eating and was still only half awake so decided to wait till they were alone to ask in case he didn't want anyone else to know.

"Would we all still be friends and talk, you know once I get home?" The swordsman asked a bit nervously as he stared at the ground and the others looked at him a bit surprised. There was silence for a few seconds before Zion responded "Of course we would! I can can keep track of where everyone is and tell you then we can sort out places to meet up" Smiling at the riolu, who was slightly surprised by his upbeat mood when he'd just been seemingly grumpy and tired "What about you guys?" Ruru asked as Zero nodded at him "I don't see why that couldn't work" He said with a shrug and continued eating from the few berries they had left "Yeah! That'd work for me and Blake" Dakota added as Blake just nodded and kept a grepa berry near his mouth seeming to use it as an excuse to not say anything but his tail and wings kept twitching slightly as if he was nervous, his nervous aura didn't help either which made Ruru slightly suspicious of him. However, distracted by his suspicion and Zion still eating none of them noticed the beedrill coming up behind them until Blake's ears lifted and he looked towards it "There's a large pokemon coming this way" He said as he quickly stood up, the others following quickly as Ruru used to aura to try find it and found it quickly as the beedrill's wings buzzed slowly became audible to the others.

The beedrill came shooting out the trees towards them, it's large stingers sharp were poised to strike whatever it flew into as everyone quickly dived out the way. Ruru rolled and summoned a bone rush as he stood up and swung it at the beedrill's side, knocking it off balance so it flew side ways while spinning. The others had helped Ruru practice fighting with him injured leg so he'd be prepared to fight and the few mobs they'd encountered before had helped a lot with practising. The beedrill glared at his as it flew at him with it's stingers up towards him but it was stopped by a water shuriken flying through the air and hitting it in the back which sent it flying into the floor in front of Ruru, quickly hitting it with the bone rush again. After the bone rush hit it rolled across the ground and scrambled up and quickly flew away into the trees. Ruru looked at the others triumphantly, his smile taking up most of his face and the bone rush disappearing as the others smiled back at him "Good job Ruru" Zero said as he ruffed up the riolu's head fur, making him huff annoyed and try fix it as the greninja snickered a little at him. The others watching, Zion looking overly pleased, Dakota smiling and Blake seemed distracted by everything as his ears twitched in every direction as he seemed to be watching out for things as even though he couldn't sense auras as well as others he still had better hearing than the others from being part noivern which made his ears a lot more sensitive than everyone else's.

After they packed away the tent that Zion and Ruru had stayed in they gathered a few more berries and started to head towards Serene village which was only a day or so away from what Zion said about the area. Eating the berries they gathered as they walked, the five walked in a comfortable silence as Zion and Ruru kept track of where things were that could possibly harm them too badly while Blake and Dakota seemed to admire the area around them, Blake stopping when seeing a plant that was colourful to inspect it carefully without harming it as if it would burst into flames if he was too rough with it while Dakota would stop and make sure he didn't get too far behind the others but would also get them to stop when there was a more interesting plant than normal.

They'd all stopped to let Blake examine a flower that was on it's own close to the path, it's petals a dark shade of reddish pink then fades to the edges to white. The flower wasn't very big but seemed to interest Blake a lot more than others as he slowly sat down and delicately ran his hand over the petals, making Ruru incredibly impatient as he wanted to get home and see Shell and the others. He tried looking up through the trees to see where the sun was but the leaves were too thick to be able to see through to the sky so he had no idea what time it was. "These used to grow near my home..." Ruru heard someone mutter to themselves, making him tilt his head slightly and looked at Blake who's aura had relaxed and seemed to be a bit more distant as if he was thinking of something that wasn't directly in front of him. The riolu was starting to get impatient while Dakota and Zero just looked around the area as Zion seemed to be doing something with the plants around them. Tail slashing against the ground, Ruru grumbled quietly to himself and saw Blake's ears twitch as he stood up and left the flower alone "S - Sorry, it just reminded me of something" The fusion muttered as he seemed to hesitantly reach for the bag with the Wooloo plush in but quickly changed his mind "It's okay, let's keep going" Ruru said quickly, brushing his tail in front of Zion's face to get his attention and laughed a little as it caused him to shoot up.

As they were walking closer to the village Ruru noticed the mark on the tree he made when he first left, the circle with the wavy circle around it then the cross through, as they found the path that lead into the village gates. The excitement of getting back to his home was slowly getting over took by worry as he couldn't sense any of the village auras yet, even as they kept walking he couldn't sense more than one or two which made him stop suddenly and the others nearly walking into him "Somethings not right... I can only sense one or two auras when I should be able to sense at least ten by now... they seem panicked too" he said, fur spiking as the thought of what it could be started rushing into his mind. Fear started over taking him as he started to run along the path, hearing Blake say something to the others as he ran and left the others to catch up "Wait! Ruru slow down!" Zion shouted as he sounded incredibly worried. As the Riolu ran he tried figuring out what was going on, were they all just out the village? Was there an attack? Are they all okay? Where are they? They had to be in the forest somewhere right? thoughts constantly racing through his mind until he started coughing, his the air becoming thick and grey around him as he was becoming engulfed in smoke and ash which didn't help the thoughts he was having.

As he approached where the village was all he saw was fire. Orange, yellow, red and multiple shades of grey engulfed what should of been Serene village, the walls to the outside destroyed while the buildings blazed uncontrollably. He noticed it was night as the sky behind the smoke was all dark but showed no signs of stars, hating how it stood out in the dark. Auras were still in the village, which meant at least some were still alive so was about to run into the flames when he felt arms wrap around his chest and hold him back "Let go! I need to help anyone in there!" the riolu begged as he tried to get away still "Ruru you'll die if you go in!" Zion said desperately as he tried to hold Ruru back more by pulling him into a tight hug which made the riolu stop fighting back and seem to go limp, tears waterfalling out his eyes as he looked at what used to be his home that was now only flames of crimson, as if taunting him of who it could of killed.

The others stared at the flames in horror from behind as the riolu sniffed and tried to stand up, Zion not letting go of him yet in hopes it'll help him calm down quicker. "Who... Why.." Dakota muttered as Ruru eventually stood up and moved away from Zion, wiping his face then looked at the others "We need to see if where everyone is, I'm sure at least a few of them got away" He sniffed, wiping tears away again but anger and determination burned his eyes like the fire from his home had now taken over his eyes though sadness still loomed in them behind the flames "I can touch fire thought being hurt, I'll go in and look for anyone trapped" Blake said, slightly nervous but with the look of regret filling them as if he was remembering something but no one questioned it. "I can teleport and use water shuriken to try help others out too" Zero added as the others nodded. Blake took the bag with the plushie in off and gave it to Dakota, looking slightly nervous to be apart from the plush "I don't want it to get burnt" he muttered as the other fusion smiled and put it safely over his head, Blake smiling a little back before looking at Zero and heading into the flames while Zero used water shuriken to clear a path for him.

The others looked around for anyone, Ruru too unfocused to use aura and the forest had caught fire making it close to impossible for Zion to see through any of them or any other plant while being so close to ones that were burning. Dakota flew around with his swellow wings, looking out for any signs of anyone. "I can't believe it... I didn't even know..." Ruru whimpered as him and Zion walked through the trees "None of us would of known till we got closer, yeah I can sense things through plants but I can't sense the entire forest or I'd have a sensory overload within seconds" The nature spirit said gently until he noticed a presence incredibly close, putting his arm out in front of Ruru to stop him. Ruru blinked a bit surprised but used aura to see if he could tell who it was, closing his eyes as he searched. He immediately opened his eyes again as tears formed again. "I know them!" He said happily as he ran towards the aura and saw them through the trees "Nuzleaf!" the riolu exclaimed happily as Zion caught up, Nuzleaf turning to see Ruru and the nature spirit with him "Ruru? You're back!" He said happily as the riolu tackle hugged him, Nuzleaf hugging him back and the riolu enjoying the fact Nuzleaf was okay. "This is Zion, he's a nature spirit! Where's everyone else as I know you can't be the only one to get away from the village" Ruru said, a little nervously but knew if no one else had escaped Nuzleaf wouldn't be here either. Zion waved at the Nuzleaf as he walked over "Nice to meet you Zion" Nuzleaf said with a smile "The others are this way" He stated happily, starting to walk in the opposite direction from the village with Ruru and Zion, following and looking out for Dakota.

After finding Dakota the four made it to where the rest of the village was staying, Ruru noticing there was still quite a lot of them left which relieved him but only one or two were from the village guild from what he could see "Ruru!" He heard a voice shout, looking towards where it came from as Percy ran into him happily with Aurora, Rosette, Gex, Scout and Milo behind him "Ruru you're back!" "It felt like you were gone for ages!" "You saw what happened to the village right?" "I'm glad you're okay" He was bombarded with his and Shell's siblings trying to talk and question him but Rosette and Carracosta walked over and got them to calm down. Carracosta was close to Nuzleaf and the adopted dad of Shell, Gex, Scout and Milo which weren't the best combination as Gex was an energetic treecko like Shell can be, Scout is a quiet treecko that just tries to stay out the way of everything except when he's excited and Milo was a cold and short tempered riolu but they got on quite well. It only took a few seconds for Ruru to notice Shell was missing, his ears going down but before he asked he noticed Zero and Blake teleport to the edge of the area with a few others from the village that had been stuck "We got everyone we could find out, everyone else was dead as he kept checking around the place and found no one else. Alive at least" Zero said as all the creatures and pokemon came forward to see everyone they thought they'd never see again as well as had their burns and wounds taken care of.

Ruru looked around, still not seeing Shell so looked at Nuzleaf "Where's... where's Shell...?" Ruru asked nervously, fearing the worst as everyone around him went silent and looked at the ground which was answer enough for Ruru "Most the guild members were killed trying to protect everyone as it was a group of dragons that did this... they were looking for two dragons, they described what they looked like but none of us had seen them. We told them that then their eyes went white and they started acting... robotic then attacked everyone and burned things..." One of the centaur guards said solemnly as Ruru's face contorted into anger and sadness as a wave of strong aura swept the area, originating from him "The dragon king. He's the only one who could be responsible" Ruru growled as everyone stared at him worried "But they could be rogues that don't want to follow him..." He heard someone mutter "He started a war! Why wouldn't he do this!?" He snarled at no one in particular "I will get to him, even if it's only to talk" Tail lashing behind him, fur standing on end and ears back. Rosette looked at him worried as everyone including Zion, Blake, Zero and Dakota stared at him shocked "Okay... if you're going to go again at least stay the night... we need more tents and the supplies more than ever now..." She said gently as the riolu seemed to start calming down and nodded, taking off his bag and carefully giving it to her so she could hand everything out that was needed.

Whether the others were going off him or not the next day. He was going to get his revenge on whoever was behind this. No matter what it took. 


	9. Chapter 7

The riolu was in a void like world. Nothing but jet black surrounding him. Until he noticed a figure, a familiar figure. "Shell!" Ruru shouted as tears formed in his eyes, happy to see his friend again as he started trying to run over to him. Shell didn't move from his spot. It was like a statue was standing in front of Ruru. "S - Shell..?" He called out again, skidding to a stop as flames started bursting out of no where and surrounded the oshawott, reminding Ruru of the dream he had the day he left for his quest to Stormwell. Watching in horror, figures of dragons starting to fly through and around the flames all of different shapes and sizes until a group of them were circling shell and what looked like two other dragons. Ruru couldn't see Shell's face or any features of the two dragons being circled along side the oshawott but their eyes were pure white, just like the first dream like this he'd had, but were full of fear as they watched the circling dragons above them with their wings tucked tightly against their body along with their tail, pressing as close together as the two dragons could as if it'd help protect them from the slowly building army above them. The flames kept getting higher and higher until it was like the flames themselves wanted to keep Ruru out but still left a small gap so he could see what was happening. Suddenly all the dragons circling above the two dragons and the pokemon swooped down towards them in different shades of grey but still no features being shown that he could use to identify what the dragons actually were, drowning the three in shades of grey until they weren't visible, only the flames and the jet black surroundings being visible.  
  
  


Ruru shot up in his sleeping bag, eyes watering as tears steadily flowed down his face. Zion and Zero were sharing a tent with Ruru and were already awake, looking at him worried but neither said anything to him as he quickly wiped his eyes, hoping they hadn't seen him crying but had a feeling they already knew he had been. The riolu started packing things quickly, putting all the things he had in the tent back into his bag before storming out the tent with his tail twitching furiously across the ground, making Zero and Zion even more worried for the young riolu. As he stormed out the tent he saw Blake tiredly leave the tent he had been sharing with Dakota, fur messy and holding the plush tightly to his chest before yawning a little and sitting down right outside the tent, Dakota following a few seconds later and sitting with him though they both noticed Ruru was awake and out the tent as Zion and Zero left it, calling out to Ruru which he ignored until all four of them were behind him and Zion grabbed his arm so he couldn't go any further.

The other four dragged the riolu a bit into the woods for privacy, Zion keeping hold of his arm to make sure he stayed with them. "Where do you think you're going exactly?" Zion asked as the all stopped in a small clearing with enough space for them all to fit easily "I'm going to the dragon kingdom to... see the dragon king" he growled at them, ears back as he glared at the group "As I said before, so why are you stopping me?" The others blinked at him surprised, as if they hadn't believed he actually was serious "But- you can't be serious!? He's the king of a kingdom that the magic kingdom is in a war against! He would kill you on sight!" Blake says, wings twitching nervously behind him as he shuffled on the spot "There's no fighting though! Maybe he-" "There's no fighting because the magic kingdom decided to try find another way about this as the dragons started reaching the homes of those that live in the magic kingdom!" Dakota growled slightly "The dragons decided to not do a full force attack but to try take down the villages one by one in sudden quick attacks" Zero said, no one asking how he knew as Blake nodded so Ruru assumed it was known throughout the forest. "I'm still going" Ruru growled as the others watched him carefully "Then we're coming with you" Zion said as his tail twitched but shuffled nervously on the spot, small plants dying around him as he stood on the spot. The swordsman grumbled quietly to himself before huffing "Fine, let's go back to the village and prepare as I want to leave tomorrow" he stormed off, the others nodding and following behind him seemingly unaware of his plan.

Ruru kept going around and packing his bag with food and any supplies he needed to leave, finding food, sleeping bags and tents, making sure to pack enough of everything for at least five others to join him. He was about to go into the forest for a few more berries when he heard voices calling him from behind. Sighing, he turned to see who it was and saw it was Percy and Aurora, both looking at him sadly "You just got back and you're already leaving?" Percy asked, eyes big as he looked at the riolu and the frubbles around his neck bigger than usual as Ruru sighed and kneeled down, causing the froakie to immediately jump on him and hug him tightly. "You could stay longer" Aurora said as she looked at them, seeming annoyed but Ruru knew it was just a way to cover up her being upset. Ruru stood up, still holding onto Percy as he walked over to his sister and hugged her too, knowing she wouldn't want to admit that she was upset he felt her hug him back now all of them in the embrace as Ruru felt his eyes start watering as he thought of Shell. He wished he'd been there to be with Shell when he'd died but he wasn't and he knew he had to live with it, Shell's siblings were devastated by the news when it'd finally sunk in that their oldest brother wouldn't be coming back and they hadn't left their tent since the night before, Carracosta bringing the three food as they refused to leave.

Eventually, Ruru let go and quickly wiped his eyes before his siblings saw he'd been crying and looked at them both "How's Milo and the others doing with the news of Shell? I know they haven't left the tent since last night" Ruru asked Percy, him being best friends with Milo even though Milo was the second oldest of the four brothers, now the oldest. "He's good! He was upset when I last saw him but all seem sad. Scout and Gex seem scared too, they said the same thing might happen to them so Milo wants to stay with them so he can protect them all like Shell did" Percy informed him, seeming to have cheered up more from earlier "Mum wants us two to stay close to her, close to Carracosta, stay in the tent or go to Carracosta's tent" Aurora sighed as her long tail lashed slightly behind her "Yeah! We shouldn't be over here" Percy said, giggling a little to himself happily as if he was being incredibly sneaky being away from where they'd been told to be but they were in the open at the edge of the tents so everyone who walked past could easily see them "You should probably go back then just in case mum notices you're both gone, you don't want to get in trouble" Ruru said gently as Percy suddenly looked like he hadn't realised "Oh no! We need to get back! Come on Aurora!" The young froakie quickly hopped off back into the mass of tents and homeless villagers, Ruru and Aurora looking at each other and laughing a little "I should probably get back too before mum notices" Aurora said to her older brother who nodded and smiled "Yeah, it was good to talk to both of you before I left, make sure to take care of Percy and Shell's brothers as we can't have them be terrified to leave the tent the rest of their lives" Ruru said as Aurora rolled her eyes and punched the other riolu in the arm "Yeah yeah, I will" She said before walking away back into the mass of tents as a heavy feeling grew in Ruru's chest as the guilt of lying to them started creeping up on him but he turned and walked into the forest before he could convince himself to wait till the next day to leave.

Guilt, he knew it was heavily weighing down his chest, he knew the feeling too well from when he used to see Darkray and Zorocham in the forest outside the village as he trained to be part of the guild. "I have to do this now... I can't leave it as who knows what could happen if I don't.." He muttered as he picked berries from any bushes he found and recognised from the berry classes when he used to go to school. He'd met Shell at the nursery Nuzleaf ran but he'd grown up with Shell, the guilt that had already planted itself in his chest getting heavier as he sat down against a tree after checking for any nearby auras and not finding any. Tears started pouring from his eyes like waterfalls, curling up as small as he could as the guilt kept building and tears poured endlessly from his eyes as he thought of Shell and wished he'd been able to save him and spend more time with him. The oshawott had seemed nervous when Ruru left, it was like he knew something would happen. Ruru had ignored it. He'd completely ignored his friend being scared as he'd just rationalised it as he was worried about him leaving on his own as it was dangerous outside the village. It kept building up, growing in his chest as if he'd eaten an entire steel plate and it was just sitting in his stomach "I'm sorry Shell.... I s - should of been there..." he whimpered quietly to himself as he repeated that he was sorry and should of been there until he'd tired himself out and was gasping for brother, eyes no longer able to produce tears so quickly got up and wiped his face but the fur under his eyes were plastered down, causing him to huff and walk off as he tried to ignore it.

Collecting berries still, he tried to forget about all the guilt he'd built up inside of him as he walked but completely ignored any auras around him. Grabbing a few oran berries from a tree after climbing up a bit to reach it he narrowly missed a gang of spearow just above him in the tree but as he didn't get too close they ignored him, he also just missed a harpy flying above the trees above him as he would of been visible if he'd struggled to reach one of the berries. He was about to walk through a bunch of trees when a vine wall shot up from the ground a few steps in front of him and surrounded him as Ruru finally noticed five other auras, one in front and the other four around him. He spun around as the auras jumped out the trees, revealing Zion, Zero, Blake and Dakota "Well where exactly are you going?" Zion asked with crossed arms and they all stared at the riolu suspiciously "I was just gathering berries!" He growled at them, none looking convinced "An hour away from where the villagers are staying?" Blake asked sceptically, seeming a lot more confident than he had before "I -" Ruru started before Zero cut him off "You were going to leave without telling anyone or letting us join weren't you?" He questioned "Don't try lie as I think we'd be able to tell" Dakota added as he glared at the smaller riolu who was hesitating "Fine, I was going to leave on my own because I didn't want to get anyone else hurt as I thought others would slow me down" He admitted, realising as he said it out loud how stupid it was "Well good job, you nearly walked right into an echidna that was ahead of you" Zion sighed as he watched Ruru "We're not leaving here for today, it was becoming dark anyway and we're coming with you whether you like it or not" The nature spirit stated matter of factly as Ruru blinked at them and smiled a little "Okay... I have everything we'd need in my bag" He admitted as everyone relaxed and started setting up their camp for the rest of the day in the tree and vine surrounded enclosure they were in.


	10. Chapter 8

Waking up, Ruru slowly opened his eyes and yawned as he rolled onto his side. He was met with Zion's sleeping face as they'd all apparently agreed on who they'd be sharing a tent with without actually discussing it. As the riolu sat up he thought he smelt a fire, assuming someone was already up but had no idea how they had found enough recourses in the area Zion created around them the night before to actually start one and much less to get it strong enough to start smoking. So he quickly grabbed his bag and slowly left the tent, yawning a little and tilting his head as the smell of fire and smoke faded almost instantly and the sound of what he assumed was wings flapping outside the vine and tree dome as he was greeted by Blake, seeming to scurry around a little before going silent as Ruru blinked his eyes open so they adjusted to the small amount of light being emitted through the top of the dome. "Hey Ruru" Blake stuttered slightly as if he was nervous for some reason "Hi. Where did-" He started before he noticed Zero and Dakota leaving their tents "Morning Ruru, Blake" Zero said as he nearly flopped into the ground as soon as he reached Blake's side with Dakota close behind, sitting the other side of Blake who had a pile of berries in front of him "Those for all of us?" Dakota asked, sounding like he was holding back from the food until he nodded and the other two immediately started digging into the food. Ruru sighed and rolled his eyes as he went over and sat with them, joining in with devouring the berries he didn't think about how Blake got.

They'd nearly completely demolished the pile of berries when Zion finally got up "Finally! Took you long enough" Zero said with a slight grin on his face as everyone looked at Zion who gave out a slight snort of annoyance "Well I'm sorry I slept too long while also being the reason we have a safe space to sleep" He huffed as Ruru snickered and put one arm around Zion's shoulders, pulling him close so their faces were squished against each other as the nature spirit sat next to the riolu "No need to be grumpy Zion! Eat something then we can take the vines down and be on our way then" He said to the treecko cheerfully as he got a quiet grunt and let go, now letting Zion start eating from the small pile of berries they'd all been eating from though Ruru hadn't noticed Blake take any but assumed he had ate before everyone else had woke up "Why's there ash and soot on the ground?" Zion asked as he pointed at a pile of ash and soot covered grass, sticks and dirt. Ruru noticed Blake's fur start standing up that he could see at least from his large clothes "Weird, I smelt smoke as I woke up too.." Ruru added as they looked at each other confused while Blake stared at the ground "Maybe it was here before? and the smell could of come through the small gap, or you just imagined it" Dakota said as he looked at the two, Zion not looking convinced but Zero and Ruru nodded, leaving the nature spirit out numbered so wasn't able to really argue with the group anymore.

Eventually Zion took down the vine walls surrounding them after they put all the tents and supplies away, leaving them open to the outside world again "Okay, where do we start going?" Ruru asked the group as Zion thought for a second "Well I was able to find put that there's a town nearby called Goldenrod, only about a give day travel from here" he stated as Blake and Dakota's tails twitched slightly on the ground nearly in sync with each other but no one said anything about how far it seems to be "Okay, lead the way" Ruru said with a smile as the nature spirit nodded and went ahead of the group to lead them all. "Apparently there's a god at the town's guild" the nature spirit told them, all going dead silent in surprise "Really!? Any idea which it is?" Ruru asked, quickly speeding up so he was walking next to Zion as his tail started lifting off the ground and swaying excitedly but kept it to as minimum as possible, not wanting to seem incredibly childish in front of them all "No idea, apparently no one around here at least has found out what they are but by the sounds of it they could be a big help for us" He told them all as Ruru nodded quickly with his tail now speeding up slightly above the ground "Are they always there or is there a chance we could miss them?" Zero questioned as Zion closed his eyes for a second and slowed down "from what I'm hearing... they're always there and are officially part of the town guild" They all looked at each other in shock and slight excitement about being able to meet one of the many gods of their world.

They'd all been walking in silence for what had to be an hour by now Ruru guessed as he thought and his tail twitched thoughtfully "What you thinking about Ruru?" Dakota asked with an eye brow raised curiously at the riolu as he seemed to think about what to say "What's the dragon kingdom like? We have no idea what it could be like and for all we know it'd be impossible to get in..." He muttered as they all stopped and looked at Ruru, lowering his head, ears and tail as they all turned their attention to him though the riolu now noticed that the plants under the nature spirit's feet was turning brown and dying, leaving a large patch of plants dead and withered around his feet "Well we need to find things out about it, you don't know anything about us and for all you know we've snuck into the kingdom of dragons once and know a way in" Dakota said as Blake and Zero looked at him with the same confused expression, one eye brow raised with a slight frown. "I guess... we should probably keep moving though" Ruru said before partly shoving Zion forward, urging him to keep going as they started walking again and Dakota moved so he was in the middle of the group "So... I actually used to be a bounty hunter and a few jobs were inside the kingdom of dragons so I found a way in and out that I could use" He told them, seeming slightly hesitant as he double ended tail twitched behind him on the ground "Did you know Blake?" Zion turned to ask as he quickly veered out the way of a tree but Blake nodded in response though didn't say anything "So I can show us that when we get there, I highly doubt it'll be covered or fixed as it was incredibly well hidden and out the way" He said as Ruru thought about it "Okay, so that's our way in... what about the rest of the kingdom? What's it like?" He questioned curiously as the fusion thought for a while "Well... it's mostly stone buildings that are the colour of wheat, all the buildings are twice the size of normal ones in the magic kingdom and areas seem to be better than others like the place is ruled by a hierarchy and the poorer citizens are the ones that suffer the most" He explained as Ruru blinked at him and nodded, not sure how to respond as they continued in nearly complete silence.

As they were walking, Blake talking to Zero next to him quietly enough that Ruru couldn't hear what they were saying and assuming too quiet for Dakota to hear too, Zion was a big help avoiding things that could hurt them as he could tell where they were just from the plants in the forest. He always seemed to be looking for something else instead of purely just dangers that they could come across but Ruru didn't want to intrude so he let him be. After a while, Ruru heard a slight hiss of pain from behind him so turned to look at who it was, noticing Zero was holding part of his arm with Blake and Dakota looking at him trying to see if he was okay. Nudging Zion to get his attention, the other two stopping and waiting for the others "So what's wrong?" Ruru asked as he went over to Zero "It's just a small scratch, it's nothing big" He said with a shrug but the riolu wasn't convinced it was nothing big "Let me see" He told him, the greninja letting out a grumble before lifting his sleeve up a little to show a large wound bleeding "Zero this isn't a small scratch" Ruru sighed as he gently took Zero's hand and hovered his other hand over the wound, both starting to glow blue and the wound slowly closing but wounds slowly forming on the palm of Ruru's clawed hand and blood dripping from them. Zero blinked at his arm where the wound used to be and smiled "wow... how did you-" He started before noticing Ruru looking at his own hand and went to take it but Zion was faster, holding the riolu's wrist before turning his hand over so it was facing up and the paw pads were visible to them all, showing multiple small areas of fur missing, showing red skin that was bleeding and burned "Ruru! What happened?!" Zion asked, sounding mad as Ruru looked away. "I can heal with aura... but it causes my hands to burn the more I do it..." He mumbled quietly to himself as the treecko sighed and quickly went through the riolu's bag and wrapped a layer of bandages over his hands before Ruru could try argue "There, that'll stop it getting infected and we can try figure out what exactly is the reason you have this power as I'm assuming you don't know" Zion said to Ruru with a small smile "Thanks..." He muttered, nodding slightly in response as he had no idea why he had the power, then they all started walking again after Ruru seeming to start pushing them along.

As they were walking, Ruru looked at Zero and tilted his head "What type of magic do you know Zero and Dakota?" He asked as he turned slightly to look at them with his head tilted still "I know fire magic mostly but I know other types too, why?" Dakota responded first as Ruru nodded "Just making sure, what about you Zero?" He asked, the greninja thinking before he spoke "I know teleportation and telekinesis magic but that's about it as I had to stop my magic training early" He stated as Ruru's ears twitched slightly "Then why can't we just teleport to the kingdom and then get away or something?" Confused as to why they seemed to be wasting time when they could already be there "Because the kingdom of dragons has a sort of magic blocker around the entire kingdom" The other four answered in sync though all different tones which made Ruru not know how to feel exactly "And it'd be better we get any information we can inside the magic kingdom before we go into the kingdom of dragons" Blake added, sounding slightly annoyed which got a slight shove from Dakota then a grumble as a response to the action. "Oh... that makes sense I guess..." Ruru muttered as they stopped, Zion putting his arm out to stop them as a medusa gothitelle started to pass, all of them ducking down into the bushes as quietly as they could so she could pass without endangering them all. "Okay, it's clear" Zion said as he got up and started walking forward again, everyone quickly jumping up and following and Ruru started trying to find it's aura with aura but realised he could hardly feel it before it disappeared completely, going out of his sensing range. After a moment Ruru tried to see what else he could sense but he wasn't able to sense much of anything except the group "How far to the next town or village?" Ruru asked as Zion closed his eyes for a moment, brushing against some of the plants but a few seeming to die around him "About a four or five day walk, depends how slow or fast we are" Zion responded as Ruru sighed a little annoyed "Then we got a long journey head of us..."


	11. Chapter 9

It'd been a week since they left Serene village, or at least the camp the villagers had set up for now and the group had run into a few pokemon and creatures but nothing that they found too hard to take on. None of them had been hurt badly at all and most wounds from previous battles had healed including Ruru's hands after healing Zero, the others refusing to let him heal them again as none of the wounds were fatal and only took a few days to heal. They'd gotten to know each other better, learning that Zion had a mentor when he was a younger nature spirit who helped him learn how to use his magic and what he job as a nature spirit was as well as he had a partner and old best friend called Kovi, a riolu who was also a nature spirit but had unusual powers for one. Zion hadn't gone into a lot of detail but him and Kovi lost contact after their mentor died, refusing to say how he died but Ruru could tell the treecko was getting angry when he mentioned his mentor much less his death so had quickly changed the subject before anything happened around them. Dakota's parents were apparently a Lucario and Sceptile which is why he's a treecko and riolu fusion, they lived in a village near the dragon kingdom but the entire village hated dragons because of all the destruction they'd caused for his home. Zero and Blake didn't have much to share as they both said they couldn't remember every time they were asked so everyone eventually gave up and realised they probably couldn't actually remember.

It'd only been a week since Ruru had found out Shell had died but he missed him a lot. He wanted to see his friends smile again, feel his short fur against his own long fur in a hug they'd give each other when the other was feeling down and his confident smile that always helped him through their training to join the guild. They'd finally achieved it and they only had one more thing to do before they both had officially joined. But it was all swept from under their feet within days. The oshawott killed before he could do his quest and before the riolu could get back from his own and see his friend again. Because of the dragons. He didn't hate all the dragons. He couldn't help but be mad at the dragons who sent the soldiers to the village and the dragons they'd been looking for though. Putting so many innocent pokemon and creatures in danger because they decided to escape for whatever reason. Why couldn't they have stayed in the dragon kingdom? Yes it was risky most likely but it also made sure no one not even in that kingdom got hurt. But he can't go back in time and stop it happening. The best he could do was make sure it wouldn't happen again.

The riolu realised he must of been starting to look mad because he felt a hand gently lay on his shoulder, blinking at the berries he's slowly started crushing in his hands then turned to see Zion looking worried "You okay?" He asked quietly as Ruru sighed and nodded, his right ear twitching slightly "We might have all the berries in the area but try not to waste them, there's others who pass through the forest that might need them too" Zion told him gently, seeming to not want to pry into what the riolu was thinking about which he was grateful for "Right, sorry" Ruru said as he quickly bit into one of them, slightly crushed but was still edible. He was about to take another bite of it when a wild scyther flew out the bushes, it's natural colours giving it away as a wild pokemon before it started trying to attack them. It quickly started using fury cutter at then, making them drop their food and immediately shoot up and prepare to fight. Ruru with his bone rush quickly threw it towards the scyther, scrapping it's lower left wing before disappearing and Ruru making another into his hand. This only angered the scyther more though. It charged at them, preparing to use quick attack towards Zero and Dakota as the fusion prepared a fireball before Blake quickly flew across and seemed to use fire punch on it, sending it flying into a tree which stunned it for a moment before it stood up and shook it self before letting out an angered cry which sounded slightly off but Ruru couldn't pin point why before it quickly flew at them. It went to use slash on the riolu, quickly blocking it with his bone rush but scratched his hand slightly before was pushed back and got knocked backwards closer to the ground.

As it was now closer to the ground roots flew through the air and grabbed it by the ankles, with a tug pulling it to the ground and slamming it against the solid soil that it had been hovering over a few moments ago, easily knocking it out. "Why can't you do that every time something attacks us?" Ruru asked as he looked at Zion who shrugged "I have limits, and if you can't handle it yourself we really should not be out here" He stated as Ruru's tail twitched but he didn't say anything "Should we go gather more food?" Zero asked as the others nodded, the four heading in separate directions to gather whatever they could though they'd gathered most of the berries in the area so would probably have to go quite far to find anything. Ruru didn't think too much about where they'd all gone before he got back to the clearing and blinked, feeling like something was missing but couldn't properly place it yet so sat down and started eating his berries, leaving the rest on the pile they'd started before the scyther attacked.

Looking up at the sun, Ruru assumed it'd been about an hour after the scyther attacked and all four of them were back at the clearing, eating as the others had been starving before the scyther attacked. Dakota blinked and looked up at the sun too, starting to look worried "Guys... have any of you seen Blake? He wasn't here when we went to get berries and I haven't seen him since..." He said, his voice laced with worry as the others blinked and looked around for any sign of the other fusion "I didn't notice his aura leave..." Ruru muttered, feeling slightly guilty he hadn't noticed earlier "I can't find him at all in the forest either" Zion told them, now seeming worried himself as the other looked at each other and stood up as they finished the berries they were eating "We need to look for him, last time he disappeared he was badly hurt" Dakota told them even though they'd been there, though his wings were twitching and he was already edging towards the edge of the clearing to go find his friend "Okay, lets split up as we can cover more ground then" Zero said "Zion, you create a path of plants to you if you find him, Ruru you try use aura, Dakota fly into the sky and use fire and I'll use a water shuriken into the sky so try find places you can look out for, if one of us sees it then whoever sees it can send out a signal too" Zero told them as they all nodded and Dakota quickly went in one direction, the other going in every other direction before they could discuss it any further

Ruru was searching through the forest and used aura to try find the missing fusion, he felt the fusion was okay as he seemed to be strong to some extent and could take care of himself though the first time they'd met he didn't seem like the type to be able to fight but after getting to know him Ruru had a feeling he'd be able to hold his own in a fight long enough for him to get away. Climbing trees occasionally to check for any sort of signal and looking around for any plants that were new around him, he kept looking through the forest using aura still but all he sensed was wild pokemon and creatures so had to avoid them the best he could, sometimes even having to hide in trees and bushes so they wouldn't be able to find or sense him at all. As he was eating a berry from a bush he noticed roots shoot up from the ground and seem to lead to the right of where he was already walking, deciding it was Zion so started to follow them as he finished the berry, finishing it before speeding up and hurrying up to follow the markers of vines.

Ruru was the second last to arrive, Dakota still not having arrived, but Blake was standing with Zero who looked slightly annoyed but also understanding. They were talking quietly to each other while Blake looked slightly upset and guilty with his ears back and wings tucked tightly to his back, tail twitching across the ground which was collecting dust and dirt. Zion was looking confused and thoughtful at the ground as Ruru approached them "Zion? What's up?" He asked, avoiding Zero and Blake so he didn't interrupt them or seem like he was listening in on what they were talking about. When he didn't get a response he nudged him slightly, now looking at him curiously and worried as the nature spirit blinked and looked at him "Wh- Sorry did you say something?" Zion asked as Ruru sighed and twitched his ears slightly as he looked at the treecko "What were you thinking about?" He asked again "Well... Just trying to figure out why I couldn't find him through the forest until Zero found him" Zion told him as Ruru blinked and tilted his head "Maybe you just weren't looking in the right places? You can't look every where at once" Ruru suggested as Zion nodded and shrugged "I guess..." He muttered, not sounding convinced as Ruru sighed and watched as the other two talked.

It didn't take long for Dakota to arrive, the fusion's cloak flying behind him as he shot through the trees with his wings spread and tackled Blake into a hug, wrapping his wings around the other fusions tightly as Blake yet out a surprised yip and nearly fell at the impact "H - hi Dakota-" Blake stuttered out of surprise and seeming not sure what to do as his tail kept twitching behind him and tried to get free of the other fusions wings but was unsuccessful so stayed there reluctantly before Dakota finally let go "The hell did you go!?" He suddenly shouted, emotions mixed together in his voice and face as he looked at Blake who was starting to look incredibly guilty again, his ears lowering and looked at the ground "I... I heard dragons coming closer and I didn't want them to try attack any of you so I went to lure them away and hid until I was sure they were gone but I got lost so stayed in the tree..." Blake muttered quietly as his wings twitched around himself and his ears lowered even more. Dakota gave him a look of slight annoyance but sighed and pulled him into a hug again "Please don't do that again" He muttered as Blake nodded "I won't.. I'm sorry" He sighed before Dakota let go again and looked at the others, as if all in agreement started heading back to the clearing they'd been in before with Dakota staying close to Blake.

Zero and Blake had gone into the forest again nearly immediately after reaching the clearing, telling the others they'd be back in a while and to start setting up camp as it was getting late. They'd come back after a while like they said and both seemed to be in a better mood than when they left and Blake went to Dakota and apologised again for disappearing which Dakota acknowledged and got Blake to help him with the tent as he'd been struggling. Ruru looked back at Zion who was helping put up their tent and tilted his head as he looked at him "What's up this time?" Ruru asked as Zion looked at him "It's just... they disappeared from the forest nearly completely... I don't know where they went but I followed them then they just seemed to disappear..." He said as Ruru blinked "I... I noticed their auras disappeared too..." Ruru admitted as they looked at each other then at Zero and Blake "Maybe they teleported?" Ruru suggested as Zion nodded "But why out the forest...." Zion asked to himself, not expecting an answer as both knew neither had one "We'll take first watch tonight" Zero said as Blake nodded and everyone sighed and slightly reluctantly agreed, considering the fact Zero had been alone with Blake a lot since they'd find him again but no one decided to argue as they finished putting up their tents and finally went to sleep for the day.


End file.
